install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install z80asm

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install z80asm

Debian stable package indexes · z80asm · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install z80asm

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · z80asm · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

overview

Package summary

Assembler for the Zilog Z80 microprcessor and compatibles

Project links

Commands and aliases

z80asm

history

Project history and usage

z80asm is a free assembler for the Zilog Z80 microprocessor and compatible CPUs. The official NonGNU page presents it as an ANSI C assembler that recognizes official mnemonics, most unofficial mnemonics, complex expressions, include files, conditional code, labels, and listing files.

Project history

The project is hosted on GNU Savannah/NonGNU, with its homepage emphasizing a free, easy-to-expand, easy-to-use assembler whose source can be read, modified, and redistributed. That framing fits the retrocomputing and embedded-toolchain world, where developers often need transparent tools for old instruction sets.

The Savannah cgit history shows continued maintenance into 2021, including fixes around undocumented IX/IY opcode handling and bug branches. The public history is not heavily narrative, but it shows a long-lived utility maintained through the free-software hosting ecosystem rather than a vendor IDE.

Adoption history

z80asm persists in package managers because Z80 code persists: retrocomputing, emulator projects, calculator and handheld work, hobby operating systems, embedded experiments, and ROM hacking all need a scriptable assembler.

The input facts for this run list z80asm in Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu, which is the key adoption signal for a small classic-CPU assembler: it is available wherever users expect to assemble old 8-bit code on modern systems.

How it is used

Users write Z80 assembly, usually set an origin with org, define bytes and words with directives such as db and dw, include source or binary files, use conditionals and macros, and assemble to a binary output suitable for ROM images, emulators, or target devices.

The official usage page says command-line help documents invocation, while the web docs focus on writing assembly for this assembler. That split is typical of small Unix tools: install the command, use --help for options, and read the project pages for syntax details.

Why package nerds care

z80asm is significant because it keeps a 1970s CPU architecture usable from modern Unix package managers. It is a small bridge between historical hardware and contemporary reproducible builds.

It also has the classic assembler-package shape: tiny binary, no service, no credentials, little runtime state, but high value when a build pipeline needs exact bytes.

Timeline

2000s: z80asm is hosted as a NonGNU/Savannah free-software project.
2016-05-09: Savannah cgit history shows macro-related maintenance.
2018-08-28: Savannah cgit history shows portability maintenance around locale headers.
2021-03-16: Savannah cgit history shows fixes for undocumented IX/IY opcode handling and related bugs.

Related projects

The Zilog Z80 CPU is the target architecture for z80asm.
GNU Savannah/NonGNU is the hosting ecosystem for the project.
z80dasm and similar Z80 disassemblers are adjacent tools used to round-trip or inspect Z80 binaries.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`z80asm`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version1.8

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://www.nongnu.org/z80asm/

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.nongnu.org/z80asm/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:z80asm
Version	1.8
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/z80asm
Homepage	https://www.nongnu.org/z80asm/
Repository	https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/z80asm.git
Upstream docs	https://www.nongnu.org/z80asm
License	GPL-3.0-or-later
Source archive	https://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/z80asm/z80asm-1.8.tar.gz
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	z80asm
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

z80asm 1.8-2

assembler for the Zilog Z80 microprocessor

sudo apt install z80asm

Section: devel
Architecture: amd64
1 dependencies
1 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Z80asm

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: z80asm from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Ubuntu apt95%

z80asm 1.8-2

assembler for the Zilog Z80 microprocessor

sudo apt install z80asm

Section: universe/devel
Architecture: amd64
1 dependencies
1 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Z80asm

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: z80asm from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

dnf95%

z80asm 1.8-30.fc44

Z80 Assembler

http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/z80asm/

sudo dnf install z80asm

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: z80asm
2 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Z80asm

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: z80asm from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/z80asm.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install z80asm with Homebrew, apt, dnf